Dana 60 S60 or Ford 9"

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Justin Smith

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I am building a 1968 Dart SS/AH chassis spec car, or rather close to spec for I could never afford to run this class but anyways I know they all like to run Ford 9" because they can change gears out much quicker. I don't plan on trying to change gears all the time, honestly, I may never change the gear ratio. I would just install a fresh set of gears in the car every couple seasons. Ford 9" are a lot more expensive to build for sure, which is why I am leaning towards the Strange Engineering Dana 60. I had a Strange Engineering Dana 60 in my tube chassis Challenger and after 7 seasons I had to put a fresh gear in it due to fatigue, which in my opinion is pretty good after 7 seasons of 950hp and 870 ft.lbs of torque. There was a chassis guy that gave me a hard time for running a Dana because he claimed it "twists" when under load. He was the only one I ever heard say that but I am always open to opinions/ learning new things. My new engine will make between 1,000 to 1,100 hp and car will weigh around 3,000. What do y'all think?
 
If you are using a 4.10 or lower (higher numerically) then the D60 is more efficient. The lower you go, the more efficient the D60 is over the 9.

Changing gears is pretty silly unless you are in Comp (maybe) or Pro Stock. I went through that gear change phase in the mid 1980’s and the only thing that happened was it changed the crossing RPM. Never made a tick of difference in ET or MPH.

So I stuck with the 5.57’s even though the math said 5.86 is what the car should have wanted.
 
I don't have a direct factual or in depth answer for this, but another thing to consider is that the 9'' is lighter than the Dana 60 in stock form.
The one thing I will say though, is that in MHO, there's nothing that looks more badass under a Mopar than a Dana 60.
The same thing goes for a Gen 2 Hemi versus any BBC in any configuration other than say a Sonny's engine.
They are pretty equal, but the nod would go to the Hemi on just looks alone.........
 
My freind just bought a s60 form strange for his gm g body. Set up the same. The s60 was about a 1000.00 cheaper.
 
the gear ratio I will probably be running will be a 4.88 or a 4.56. the back half will be practically a pro stock back half with the stock style front suspension. the car will be running around the 8.50s in the 1/4, 5.40s in the 1/8th.
 
Justin Smith said:
the gear ratio I will probably be running will be a 4.88 or a 4.56. the back half will be practically a pro stock back half with the stock style front suspension. the car will be running around the 8.50s in the 1/4, 5.40s in the 1/8th.
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So it will be a coil over 4 link car then? If that’s the case, between the 4 link (which once you find the IC for your combo you’ll likely never change it unless you end up racing in a parking lot or an alley), the shocks and your 2 step you will be able to adjust wheel speed much easier with that rather than making gear changes to try and do the same thing.
 
yellow rose said:
So it will be a coil over 4 link car then? If that’s the case, between the 4 link (which once you find the IC for your combo you’ll likely never change it unless you end up racing in a parking lot or an alley), the shocks and your 2 step you will be able to adjust wheel speed much easier with that rather than making gear changes to try and do the same thing.
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Yes it will be a 4-link coil over car. What I don't get is where that chassis builder was telling me the Dana 60's "twist" at the hit, but with todays technology of the S60 housings, I don't get where he is getting that from. I am just making sure this rear end can handle over 1,000hp. I don't see why it couldn't but I am always learning new things.
 
Having cars for over 40 years with both Dana 60’s and Ford 9 inches if I were to buy a new rearend it would be a 9 inch. Way better gear choices and if I hurt a gearset on a Thursday test n tune I would make Friday’s points race. Not so with a Dana. As I sit now two of my cars have Dana’s and one has a 9 inch. They all came that way.
 
Ohh and if I were planning as much horsepower as you are planning on and starting fresh it for sure would have a new fabricated 9 inch housing.
 
I am personally not a fan of 9". Most ppl have several 3rd members so they can just swap them and have a different ratio, so that can get expensive really quick. An s60(strange) isn't all that hard to swap ratios because of using side abjusters. I would do the s60(strange) and not a moser one because mosers still shim under the side bearings.
 
My Dart has a S-60 under it and I'm not making near the power the OP is planning on, but if I were doing it over I'd buy a 9".

Go to any of the races where really fast cars (3.70's- 4.20's) are running and take a peek under them and see what's there. Heck, look under the Drag Pack cars. If there was really much difference in the HP required to run the rears you'd see a bunch of Dana's in the heads up classes.

:bs_flag:
 
At that power level you might want to get some professional advice. My guess is that the advice you get will be to go with a fab housing and a 9 inch or even 9.5 inch Ford type rear end. I'm not sure where the power limit is on the S60 but you don't find them under big power cars. I think it might have to do with the fact that you can fabricate a brace for a 9 inch but you can't really brace across the back of the Dana 60. That might be what your chassis builder was trying to tell you.
 
Justin Smith said:
I am building a 1968 Dart SS/AH chassis spec car, or rather close to spec for I could never afford to run this class but anyways I know they all like to run Ford 9" because they can change gears out much quicker. I don't plan on trying to change gears all the time, honestly, I may never change the gear ratio. I would just install a fresh set of gears in the car every couple seasons. Ford 9" are a lot more expensive to build for sure, which is why I am leaning towards the Strange Engineering Dana 60. I had a Strange Engineering Dana 60 in my tube chassis Challenger and after 7 seasons I had to put a fresh gear in it due to fatigue, which in my opinion is pretty good after 7 seasons of 950hp and 870 ft.lbs of torque. There was a chassis guy that gave me a hard time for running a Dana because he claimed it "twists" when under load. He was the only one I ever heard say that but I am always open to opinions/ learning new things. My new engine will make between 1,000 to 1,100 hp and car will weigh around 3,000. What do y'all think?
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I too have just ordered an s60 from our Canadian Subsidiary Bears performance.
Strange has a good video on you tube showing that it is possible to change gear ratios on the s60 in 30 minutes because of the threaded adjusters. If you had previously dialed in a set of gears and know the pinion shim thickness for that gear set, you could swap
The gear set reasonably quick.
I have read this in a magazine for what that's worth, and that book
Claims that the Ford and the 8 3/4 mopar are what is called a banjo axle design which almost no oems use anymore, because this design is inherently weaker. The Ford gets much attention for its hypoid offset and 3 pinion bearing, but it has the same weakness as an 8 3/4 which is at the axle caps which are not supported by the casting
And axle tubes. The Dana as well as Chev 10, and 12 bolt as well as the Ford 8.8 are what is called a Salibury axle. This design supports the axle caps from flexing by capturing the differential bearings between the axle tubes. The caps can further be stiffened by a support cover as well. The s60 is also all nodular iron versus grey iron. A fabricator here locally tells me that a very specialized welder is required to properly weld the axles tubes to the cast iron/ grey iron centre section for maximum strength and no oil seepage at the welds. Strange uses this welding process on the s60.
The Dana also has the best hypoid offset.
The Dana s60 is only 15-20 lbs heavier than the 9 inch equal to equal. My vote goes to the s60.
A good friend of my ne has a 8.70 et Daytona with a Dana 60
After 2,000 passes all on the trans brake 727 torque flight, it finally broke a strange 35 spline axle. It broke right beside where the splines enter the spool. The splines inside the spool and the ring and pinion looked perfect. These are strong rear axles.
Your Dart should have no problem with an 8:50 et with a standard s60. IMHO
 
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Justin Smith said:
the gear ratio I will probably be running will be a 4.88 or a 4.56. the back half will be practically a pro stock back half with the stock style front suspension. the car will be running around the 8.50s in the 1/4, 5.40s in the 1/8th.
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I am surprised at your gear ratio plan for the expected et.
Most cars that I see with that kind of power and et using a pro stock size tire are using a 4:10 and numerically lower. These car make so much torque, that gearing them up never lets the slicks hookup.
 
Duane said:
I am surprised at your gear ratio plan for the expected et.
Most cars that I see with that kind of power and et using a pro stock size tire are using a 4:10 and numerically lower. These car make so much torque, that gearing them up never lets the slicks hookup.
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That is probably true. The guys I know running that kind of power use a braced Ford 9 inch and run 3.89 gears with a spool and big tires. Those are 8 second door slammers running 150+ mph. A Dana 60 typically isn't a good choice in a car like that since there isn't enough space to work on the rear end. The tires are so big that the four link setup gets pushed in close to the center section. With a 9 inch you can drop the pig out and set up the gears on a bench. With a Dana 60 you are inside the car fighting with the suspension for wrench space. Do it once and you'll see why everyone uses a Ford 9 inch in the fast cars.
 
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AndyF said:
That is probably true. The guys I know running that kind of power use a braced Ford 9 inch and run 3.89 gears with a spool and big tires. Those are 8 second door slammers running 150+ mph. A Dana 60 typically isn't a good choice in a car like that since there isn't enough space to work on the rear end. The tires are so big that the four link setup gets pushed in close to the center section. With a 9 inch you can drop the pig out and set up the gears on a bench. With a Dana 60 you are inside the car fighting with the suspension for wrench space. Do it once and you'll see why everyone uses a Ford 9 inch in the fast cars.
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All good points, as far as serviceability. But on strength, the Dana has it. A good friend of mine runs an 8 second Daytona with the Dana and a torque flight. It's deadly consistent, and he never works on it. It hooks and sticks every run because it's dialed in.
The s60 with its threaded adjuster would make things easier.
I see some real fast cars running the Ford 8.8 and the 12 bolt too.
 
now here is another topic I reckon but I will go ahead and ask it here. I have been planning to build an SS/AH chassis spec build for this car, but I also considered building the car like the old pro stock style where they still ran leaf springs. I wouldn't turn as much ET with that set up but I am not trying to tear the world down neither. If I built the chassis this way, it would be a lot less money and still fun which is what matters. and also I wouldn't ever run the AH class just because it is way out of my budget to even try it. what do y'all think?
 
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